kirkwall

Thanks. Will ring Todd in the AM and congrats on the P1s, you two -- hopefully there'll be one left to order. best, k

Many thanks for the info, Aimless. I'll shoot Todd a PM. thanks and best, k

I'd love to hear a P1. Can't find any dealers here in Canada who carry them but I'm tempted to buy it sound unheard if I can find a go-between in the States. Beautiful piece of kit. best, k

My apologies for the unwarranted speculation and didn't mean to start that particular rumour, just wanted to clarify what the concerns about new-model construction might be. sorry and best, k

With respect to the build quality of this new line, and taking into account the new round rods and suspiciously shiny headbands on the RS series, are they still made in-house at Grado or has construction now moved offshore? k

I've not seen one of those Grays but years ago I had a semi-kit Well-Tempered TT that used a viscous-damping system (paddle in silicon? can't recall for certain) and it sounded terrific, though it was finicky to set up and maintain and more than once I found trapped insects/small animals drowning in the paddle-pool thingie. best, k

Congrats on the new source and thanks for the detailed impressions, particularly the results of your tube-rolling. I've always loved the Unison amps but haven't heard much about their CDPs. It's a beautiful-looking machine. k

Just saw this on ebay and wondered if anyone here has heard one? 1 Grado Lab Series Wood Tonearm Transcription Turntable - eBay (item 200282360211 end time Feb-28-09 08:49:43 PST) I've not come across this setup before but looks interesting -- great pics, anyway. Pretty solid-looking deck. k

Apparently the MSRP of the UD is also 2500.00. From Stereophile: "But here are the simple facts. The Ultra-Dock is planned as an upsampling 24/96 iPod dock that can upconvert lowly MP3s (via Sonic Focus processing) and draws the signal from the iPod's digital out like the Wadia iTransport. The Ultra-Dock is planning for a Q3 2009 ship date at approximately $2,500." It's that "sonic focus" thing that makes it the business, Robert Baird thinks. I haven't come across this before, but I'm a bit leery of any technology that claims to upconvert MP3s. Also any technology called "sonic" anything. k

My apologies if this has been posted before, but hadn't seen much info on this one: [/snip] [The dock features] Analog Devices AD21369 32-bibit floating-point digital signal processing core and 96kHz/24-bit converters for analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog, resulting in a 110dB dynamic range with distortion of under .004 percent. The dock will also include DSP technologies for improving sound quality: Adaptive Dynamics (restores the sound quality of compressed audio), X-Matrix (virtual surround sound for two speakers or headphones), and Extrapolator, which turns the iPod's stereo signal to 5.1- or 7.1-channel sound. All of these signal processors have separate modes for compressed, lossless, and movie audio. Audio inputs include S/PDIF and Toslink (from CD quality all the way up to 96 kHz/24-bit). The dock outputs video in the S-video, composite, and component formats. A single control knob handles all functions, while an LCD on the front of the unit displays song information and menu items. All of these components take up a fair amount of space; it's 8.5 inches wide, 1.5 inches high, and a foot deep. [\snip] Looks expensive at 2000.00 but it's an elegant design. I wonder how close the sound might be to a DAC3 and whether there'll be many takers at the price? best, k

Many thanks for the tip -- I'll get in touch with them. k

Who are you dealing with, if you don't mind my asking? My local Senn dealer is quoting 1995.00 before taxes, which is dangerously near Harbeth Monitor 30 territory. Aargh. best, k

Those impressions were dead on -- reading them helped me figure out what was so odd about the DX1000s I had, though they could sound tremendous on some music, particularly well-recorded acoustic blues, for whatever reason. I like 'em, but an acquired taste for sure. A less expensive, less strongly-flavoured version might be a better buy. k

AudiogoN ForSale: Grado Hp-1000 HP2 Headphone Wowza. That's one dedicated whistleblower. Next stop the SEC? k

They are lovely bits of kit -- I loved the dark-blue cast casing and the carbon finish somehow managed to look un-crap in person. I donated my 77 CDP and integrated to a hard-up friend when I moved up to the 99/909. I bought it from HiFi Corner in Edinburgh and picked up the later-model biwire 77-10ls in yew finish on closeout when Quad was bringing out the 99 series. It really was a beautiful system, though the remote was a bit cumbersome -- volume/function wheel like a lorry's and that dim, floaty screen, like playing Coleco baseball. The 10ls are, I think, basically S3/5s with odd Quad feet -- I suspect they didn't sell many due to their being the first dynamic (and therefore Devil-spawned) Quads, but they sound very good within their limits and will play a little louder than to-spec LS3/5As, IIRC. I'm sure I saw a set on A'gon not too long ago. If I were in the market for that sound I'd buy the S3/5as for those lush Spendor mids and the gorgeous cabinetry and if I loved them maybe hunt for a pair of the vintage Rogers. There's a great site for LS3/5 enthusiasts: The Unofficial LS3/5a Support Site (apologies if link doesn't work or if you've been there already...) best, k

I've owned several LS3/5a speakers (Rogers, Spendor, Stirling V2) and one variant in the Spendor-built Quad 77-10ls, which is the only one I've kept. They're definitely a design with compromises, but they do disappear in the right room and system and can do wonderful things with small-scale and acoustic music. I wish I'd kept the Rogers I had -- traded them for a pair of Mission speakers and regretted it for years. I use the 10ls as office speakers now and they're very good within their limits -- beautiful mids and highs. best, k

Very interesting for sure. My experience with RS1s and HD600/650s via HeadRoom electronics, balanced and SE Max, is that they're different but I couldn't choose one as an absolute preference. With the HD650, and level-matched, balanced seems to deliver a quieter, more solid sound with better LF extension and a subjectively wider soundstage; the MAX SE more focus and speed, so that lyrics and dialogue in particular are easier to follow. Perhaps with with really high-end balanced gear the benefits of balanced are more pronounced? Has anyone DB-tested identical configs in the two configurations and had a consistent marked preference? best, k

I'm pretty sure they will. I have contact info for Rob Flain in the UK and he's pretty good about responding to emails -- happy to pass it on if you need it. It is a great-sounding player and still hold its own in and above its price range, I think. Best of luck getting it sorted out, k

I'm not sure how relevant or helpful this will be but I had two problems with my CDP-2, and this was one of them. The other was that the transport was spotty and would flat-out refuse to read entire discs more or less randomly. Both problems were traced to the upgrade board installed along with the new transport (mine had been upgraded by Quad from CDP to version 2) and bugs with these upgrade boards are pretty fairly well documented on Quad owner sites. Is yours an upgraded unit or a stock CDP-2? I'm guessing the latter, given the date of purchase. The bad news is that I had to get the player replaced after several trips to the service depot but the new US distributors are very good and if you can't get joy from them you can email Rob Flain in the UK service department who may well have a quick fix for you. Quad service charges are pretty reasonable and if the player is still under warranty they may well fix it for free. hope this works out and best, k

Congrats -- great cat!!! Those Selkirks are really beautiful, and I love the compact, bulldog stance. I've got a Siberian -- 22 pounds and still growing. k

They do look pretty naff but the Stereophile review (Wes Phillips) is very positive --"an awfully good closed-back headphone...admirable [music] delivery device." I think they look like they've been assembled from the detritus of an 80s wine bar as imagined by a part-time thug, part-time delivery boy from Leeds. But maybe they sound great. Or good. k

I like the EL84 sound, Manley-style better than the El34/6550/KT88 sound, Cary-style, but it's purely personal preference. The Manley gear I have owned (Stingray/Shrimp/Mahi) tends to sacrifice a little midrange presence and liquidity for speed and slam in the bass and I love the dynamics of music presented in this way. The new Stingray and Manta Ray (?) also feature headphone jacks and, apparently, iPod docks but they've been static-demo'd for a while now and still aren't for sale, so hard to say if they'd compete well with the Cary. I agree with 4N6 that the Cary is a very good all-rounder, at least a very good HP amp and a very good speaker amp, once retubed. But for the price of the F1 new you can get an excellent integrated and an excellent HP-only amp -- do have the chance to listen to any of your choices before buying? best, k

Hi, I've owned the SLi-80, the Signature and now have on long-term loan the Half-Assed F1, which includes the Jensens, hexfreds and Grayhills but not the Kimber or faceplate upgrades or the direct-coupling and I'd say it's the same amp with different flavouring, assuming the stock tubes. I happen to like a more direct, pacey tube sound and prefer the Manley gear I've heard/owned in this respect but the SLi-family midrange is seductive and its HP section is excellent -- powerful and well-balanced, though a little saggy-bottomed. The one I'm listening to now has 6CA7s as the outputs and it's a MUCH cleaner, tighter sound with good bass definition, though at the expense of those liquid mids, which seem to be a strong point of EL34s especially (to me ears). With 6CA7s or perhaps some very good KT88s it's still a competitive design for both speakers and HPs, I think. It has great flexibility in terms of retubing and can be bought and sold fairly easily. It's a kind of accomplished journeyman of amps and is certainly very musical s stock but it can seem slow and soft and un-urgent, for lack of a better term. I thought it sounded great with Beyers, very good with RS1s and lousy with HD650s; good with MA and Focal and less so with Spendors. I wouldn't spring for the F1 version, even used, unless the spread was less than 400.00 or so, which it tends not to be. The Sig is the sweet spot in that lineup. best, k

Thanks for these -- interesting. I may have missed this in earlier posts, but how would you say that these measurements correlate with your listening experiences of balanced/SE? best, k

Done. Sorry to give so little this time round... k